The present invention relates generally to a tattoo needle stabilization device. More specifically, this disclosure relates to a device that engages the shaft of a tattoo needle near the point, biasing the point of the needle against the inside of the tip aperture and stabilizing the needle.
Tattooing is the process of placing indelible ink under the surface of the skin, creating permanent marks and ornamentation. The true origin of tattooing is largely unknown but, it is an art form that crosses cultures and continents. The earliest tattoos date back over 5000 years and can be identified in great civilizations such as the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. More recent tattoo cultures include, the Polynesians, Celts and Japanese. Past tattoos were applied by hand, where an artist would dip a sharp instrument or needle into ink and painstakingly push the needle into the subject's skin, creating a design one dot at a time. Improvements with tattooing include, using a striker to hit the back of the tattoo instrument and increase the speed at which the skin is pierced and the use of tattoo instruments or needles having multiple points.
The mostly widely accepted modern tattoo machines are an electromagnetic two coil design which were adapted from a stenciling pen originally patented by Thomas Edison in 1877. The basic design includes a power supply, frame, two electromagnetic coils, contacts, a spring loaded armature bar, needle and sanitary tube. The needle has an eye, shaft and tip or point. The point is inserted down the sanitary tube and the eye is connected to the end of the armature. When the tattoo machine is first energized, the contacts are closed allowing current to flow through the coils, the coils create a magnetic force that attracts the spring loaded armature bar, the downward movement of the armature bar accelerates the needle point and also breaks the contracts, which de-energizes the coils, allowing the spring to return the armature bar to its original position, retracting the needle point, closing the contacts, and starting the whole cycle over again. The cycle time or oscillations per minute can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the amount of current supplied to the coils.
The needle is typically about 5½ inches long and is connected to the armature bar by pressing the eye over a rubber grommet or “top hat.” The point of the needle extends slightly beyond the tip of the sanitary tube through an aperture or guide depending upon the shape and use of the needle. The aperture or guide may be substantially round, diamond shaped or an open tray. Size of the aperture or guide varies depending upon the configuration and number of points attached to the tattoo needle. A needle having a single point would be used in conjunction with a sanitary tube having a small round or diamond shaped aperture and is used for fine details, whereas; a magnum needle, or a needle having a plurality of points, configured like a paint brush, would be combined with a sanitary tube, have a large open tray, and would be used for shading large areas. Regardless of the shape or size of the needle point, the aperture or guide must be sufficiently large enough and loose enough around the needle point to allow the oscillating action of the machine to draw ink out of a well, around the needle point and into the tip of the sanitary tube. The ink in the tip of the sanitary tube is loaded onto the needle point during each oscillation and the loose aperture or guide allows enough ink to pass out of the tip to properly color the tattoo.
One issue with traditional tattoo machines is that the only solid attachment point for the needle is at the eye end, 5½ inches away from needle point, which is only loosely constrained in an aperture or guide. When the machine is in use, the needle point will move in the aperture or guide each time the artist changes directions while drawing. One method the artists use to control this movement is by pushing the machine when drawing, this forces the artists to reposition their bodies or to contort their, hand, wrist and elbow with each direction change. Traditionally, the artists also use an elastic band wrapped around the tattoo machine frame and needle shaft, to bias the tattoo needle against the sanitary tube tip. However, the only available placement for the elastic band is on the needle shaft near the eye, again well away from point. This method does not provide significant needle stabilization and the rubber band also robs the efficiency of the tattoo machine.
Others have attempted to stabilize the needle by inserting sleeves or guides into the sanitary tube, CN200998271 (Y), HUIYANG SHI [CN], [NL] NL1020193 (C2), KUIN PETER MARIA and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,660, YACOWITZ, HAROLD. The outside diameter of the sanitary tube is a standard 5/16 inches, which allows it to clamp into a traditional frame, however, the wall thickness and inside diameter varies depending upon design, material and additional factors. Devices that are inserted into the inside of the tube must be sized for a particular sanitary tube. Also the only location to insert the device is in the top of the sanitary tube toward the eye of the needle. This location is too far away from the point of the needle to provide significant stabilization.
What is needed is a needle stabilization device that acts near the point of the needle and allows an artist to accurately draw in any direction.